Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-15
A FALSE BOOM.
4 Warning 10 Carpenters and Other
Mechanics to Keep Awsy from
the Pacific Coast.
Exaggerated Reports of q Scarcity Of Labor
and High wsges-CslifOrnia Not the Ell
Dorado of tho Working Man.

Los ANGELES, CAL Oct. %, 1S67.-OI
the numerous methods adopted to boom
the Pacific coast, there are none 50 in
furious to tie workingmen as the eXsg-
gerated reports of the scarcity Of labor
snd high wages. And yet it is considered
by the "6oomers" the very best argument
they can produce, for at once It conveys
the impression to the man of capital that
the boom is not epheneral, out has q
firm and lasting basis. If he has some
doubts as to the many advantages offered
for the investment of capital the article
above referred to is "3liL cher" ULf0r-
tunately the poor dOpe Who sacrifices his
little earthly possessions to enable him to
reach these shores in quest Of "steady
work" and "high wages," looks in vain
for fulfllment of these golden promises.
The advertisements for help which he may
have seen are from "empIOyment
sgents," an irresponsible set of leeches
whose living depends on an overcroWded
market Of laborers. Every city is full of
them; they pay high rents, advertise ex.
tensively, and q scarcity OF labor means
ruin TO their trade; for in such q case
none would be so foolish as to psy them
commission to procure them Job.
Just now Southern California is being
extensively advertised as the "promised
land" OF the poor, ill-pai slave of labor.
In nearly. sll the paragraphs going the
rounds of the press there is such s mis-
representation Of facts, such barefaCed
fslsehoods IN regard to wages and the de-
msnd for labor, that we have taken upon
ourselves to refute them, and thus save
hundreds of families from ruin. The Gull
miuating point was reached by q special
dispatch sent by some scoundrel in our
midst to the Boston Globe. II appeared
in that journal On the 18th Of
October, and has been copied by
nearly every Eastern paper. The en-
tire dispatch is lie from beginning
to end. Hundreds Of letters Of inquiry
have been received by the postmaster Of
this city, and the Trades Union secre-
tsries have also been deIuged with mis-
sives of like import. Already the dam
pable plot is bearing its bitter fruit. A
stream Of mechanics and lsborers have
poured into the city whose ranks are
daily being sweiled by fresh accessions.
Having expended their last dollar for
railroad fare, they rush around from one
job TO another Offering to work tor any
thing they could get. The scenic grandeur
f.ils to impress them, and they fad our
GLORIOUS climate" rather thin diet to
subsjst on. We, therefore ask the
eastern press to aid US in arresting this
hegirs, and we earnestly entreat them to
publish this warning.
IT such term be applicable to the
IEhnnDnD fhrnnnhnf-f
ern California, we can safely assert that
tel aud labor 20 the production Of wealth
from the soil, or in vast improvements
for future production, in transportation
and trade, the results have been and will
continue 10 be vastly profitable. There
really seems to be no limit to the prof.
table investment of capital, for CaIifor-
Mis- is vast storehouse which needs but
that magic "open sesame" to yield all the
necessaries Of life. But with the capt
talist must also come laoorers, both
skilled and unskilled, and when the ratio
has not been disproportionate the latter
have been able to maintain themselves in
tolerable comfort. Periodically, how
ever, and more often at this time OF the
year, the market has been overcrowded,
aud only small NUMBER of them have
secured the great boon of the working
men, ga home free and unincumbered."
The greater number live from
hand to mouth. Rents are enormous
" high; g cottage OF four rooms rents
from $25 to $50 month. Coal is Sl6 8
ton, butter Is 40 cents, eggs 40 cents and
other things in proportion. The average
wages is about so cents per day more
than eastern wages, but the cost of living
more than counterbalances. Out of door
labor can be pursued for about ten
months in the year; but the man who at
tempts 1t is sure to break down. Tropi-
cal climates will no permit an unceasing
round Of hard manual labor. There is q
gradual and stealthy undermining process
which the victim heeds generally after it
is too late to repair the evil. The Ell
Dorado of him who has but his two
orawny arms to exc out an existence is
not here. We, your fellow workmen,
know whereof we speak, therefore, heed
our warning. UNION No. Sc,
Brotherhood of Carpenters and Jotners
The above is endorsed by the Los An
gsies Brlcklayers' Association.